Last month the Uncommon OGREs and ACD Distribution sheets arrived from Warehouse 23. I’ve split the Nihon, Vatican, and Nassau OGREs into their respective factions. Here’s the ACD forces (with the Anarchist Relief Front making an appearance at top right):

This one is packaged a complete rules supplement with new units and scenarios. Highly recommended!

(You can also see a few of the Strategic & Tactical Objectives in the background of the Nihon pic. Not depicted are the BGG units [which include the BGGzilla and the OGRE Ninja] and additional Uncommon OGREs.)

I ran an OGRE Tournament between Christmas and New Year’s. Over about a week, I managed to entice six other people into playing. I would consider it a success, and the highlight was a three-player session of Breakout from the old Command Post Gamma site. I’m reposting my session report from my Tournament page here to encourage others to try the Breakout scenario.

Breakout is an OGRE scenario for two or three players on the G1 map. A large Combine force has already overrun the Paneuropean defense, and rather than mopping them up is bypassing them in an attempt to cross a river. However, just as they arrive at its banks, the Paneuro Reserve comes to the rescue.

Here’s a brief session recap, from my Tournament page(the colours refer to the different sides):

Breakout was about the best game of OGRE I’ve ever had. The Combine selected a Mk. V, which quickly wiped out the Paneuro Remnant (except for a few stragglers). However, this cost nearly all the OGRE’s missiles, and the Paneuropean Reserves were able to grind it down.

The game ended in epic fashion, as the OGRE risked all to get within secondary range of the remaining forces and got stuck in a swamp. Given enough time, the pitiful Paneuro LGEVs would be able to completely defang the beast. A marginal Paneuro victory was declared for 56 VPs.

Overall, Breakout is an awesome scenario that you should go and try right now. I give it 5 out of 5 nuclear trefoils.

I had never taken a look at the difference in OGRE miniature castings… Compare below two Mk. Vs – the left one is a “modern” Mk. V while the one on the right is from Martian Metals in the ’80s:

(The right one is actually labeled “Mk. Vb” by Martian Metals. Misprint, or alternate chassis?)

Check out the stylings on the front of the OGREs; the Martian Metals version has a pointed ‘hull’ that looks particularly cool. The newer casting has a lot more details, and the external missiles are housed in armour.

The OGRE rules require a defender to batter an OGRE apart one piece at a time; they make no provision for attacking the cybertank’s main body. Here are some suggestions for OGREs with structure points.

Check out how well-armoured the monsters are; that’s the reason the Pansies shoot out an OGRE’s weapons and treads instead.

1.10 OGRE structure points. If desired, attackers may target an OGRE’s main body instead of its weapons or treads. OGREs are extremely well-armoured, with metres of BPC protecting their vulnerable innards. Like treads, the OGRE’s main body is attacked at 1:1 odds. A successful hit inflicts damage equal to the weapon’s attack strength.

An OGRE suffers no detrimental effects from main body damage until 0 SP are reached. At that point, the OGRE is considered destroyed; its internal systems have been breached and completely fried. If using the OGRE Miniatures rules, the OGRE still leaves behind a hulk. Various OGRE designs possess differing SP, as follows:

Mk. VI or Doppelsoldner: 125 SP.

Mk. IV, Mk. V, Huscarl, or Fencer: 100 SP.

Mk. III, Mk. III-B, Legionnaire, or Ninja: 75 SP.

Mk. II: 50 SP.

Mk. I, Pikeman: 30 SP.

Most OGREs have so many SP that it is difficult to obliterate them within a reasonable period of time. When using OGRE structure points, the optional “AP point defense” rule is recommended (repeated here from the Other Rule Variants page):

1.103 AP point defense. An OGRE uses its AP weapons for point defense against incoming attacks, not just to mow down infantry. If all of an OGRE’s antipersonnel units are destroyed, then treat any “D” result to an OGRE component as an “X” instead (except for spillover fire). This gives attackers some reason to take out an OGRE’s AP.

As a variant, allow ram attacks to damage an OGRE’s main body instead of (or perhaps in addition to) treads.

This scenario is meant to showcase a wide range of OGREs from the Designer’s Edition but also be relatively quick to play. I really liked the idea behind “The Day After” scenario from the OGRE Reinforcement Pack, but it featured way too many OGREs (at least 17 if you include the hulks) and combined too many new rules at once (damaged OGREs plus towing). I already wrote a scenario featuring towing (I’ve Fallen), so here’s one focusing on damaged OGREs.

Salazar sighed heavily and surveyed the apocalyptic scene.

The craters from the yesterday’s heavy bombardment still glowed hot, illuminating the radioactive haze which obscured No-Man’s Land. Ash from the burning cities fell like snow, but luckily the steep mountains kept the fallout confined to the valley. This was now a place of death. It would be centuries before the land would be clean…

His thoughts were interrupted by a beep from his battlesuit – new orders. Suddenly the pocked and blistered OGREs lurched into action, their damaged treads grinding. Salazar glanced at the message: